17-May-2011 -- I am a retired surveyor. My study at the Dresden University of Technology dates back 43 years, but as Graduates of the year 1968 we meet regularly to the so-called graduate's meeting. This time the meeting took place in the health resort Burg (Spreewald) on May 16 and 17.

On the first day we had a 3-hour boat trip along some of the idyllic channels of the Spreewald. The weather was dry but rather chilly. Nevertheless, the cold did no harm to the good atmosphere on the boat. The boatmen are prepared for such a thing and offer regional-typical schnapps to warm up with. The channels were lined by numerous magnificent alder trees. Nevertheless, in between the alder trees many ash trees also came along which apparently aren't welcome in this large numbers. Therefore, we saw many sawed-off ash trees, which interfered with the overall impression of something beautiful. Such a boat ride is really comfortable and has a calming effect on mind and soul.

In the evening we had dinner together and enjoying each others company. Many
memories were refreshed from our student days and also on specific experiences from working life.. The mood was great - almost like old times - only that we had less drinks. It was particularly positive that there was no discussion of diseases in this round. It was after midnight when we finally went to bed.

On the day after we drove to the neighbouring village Straupitz to visit the Dutch Mill and the village church. The mill is a Technical Monument and is part of the European cultural heritage. It is the last producing triple mill in Europe, where wood, grain and flax is processed. After a one hour expert tour we bought, of course, the typical products of the mill which means linseed oil and mill bread. And I can say that both taste really delicious. After that we paid a visit to the remarkable village church.

It was built to plans by the Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It is of unusual size for a village church. Particularly impressive are the twin towers visible from afar and the perfectly preserved original interior design. It was pure coincidence that at the time of our visit a member of the Parish Church Council was present and happy to provide information on many interesting details.

It was already noon when our joint programme came to an end. However, for my wife and me yet another nice program point followed. We had planned to visit the nearby confluence point. This point is not accessible by car, as it lies in the middle of the forest. But we were lucky to get there by car to within about 300 meters, because the forest roads were dry and not closed for cars. We enjoyed the absolute silence in the forest and felt our way with the GPS device ever closer to the goal. It took quite a while until our GPS finally showed the
desired zeros on the display. Then it was time to make the necessary pictures. But we were in the middle of the forest and had the same view in every direction - nothing but trees. Well, we took photos of everything and of our GPS device accurately placed in the confluence point.

On the way back to the car we chose a slightly more convenient way. Arriving at the car we were not even driving away immediately. So we had the silence and the scent of the forest affect us for a time. But slowly we felt hunger and thirst and we decided to have a meal in the country inn of Biebersdorf village. In this lovely place we were the only guests, the food was delicious and the staff very friendly. After that we started the journey home to Berlin. We have not taken the highway, but are driven comfortably on the well-maintained country
roads. On the way home we had a another stop to buy some Spreewald asparagus for lunch next day. All in all, our Spreewald excursion and the visit to the confluence was a beautiful and memorable experience worth to keep in mind for ever.